The Fourteen Words
The generational poison of ethnic hatred in America.
Born in the small, backwoods town of Woden, Iowa, in 1938, David Lane was a founder of The Order, a domestic terrorist group that promoted white supremacy while committing bank robberies, armored car heists, bombings, and assassinations.
Obsessed with hatred for people of color, Jews, and homosexuals, Lane was ultimately convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, and involvement in the assassination of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk show host who was shot multiple times in the driveway of his Denver home in 1984 by members of The Order.
From behind bars, Lane authored the “Fourteen Words” and, like so many racists who went before him, distorted Biblical passages to promote his white supremacist ideology by claiming they were "God's will and command.”
"We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
This was deliberately designed to sound benign, but at its heart, it was a call for ethnic cleansing and white superiority.
Lane was yet another example of the archetype of the profoundly insecure, angry, and unaccomplished white male who desperately needs to excuse his own failures and shortcomings by blaming them on anyone other than himself.
From slaveholders to the Ku Klux Klan, fascist sympathizers in the WWII era to synagogue, church, school, and supermarket shooters, the Tulsa Massacre to the throngs of angry white men marching in Charlottesville with torches chanting, “Jews will not replace us,” hatred of “the other” has galvanized believers in white supremacy throughout our history.
President Donald Trump has long ginned up his base by characterizing undocumented immigrants as an invasion of criminals, gang members, and even dangerous animals that will destroy America’s way of life. This is a trope that echoes the ethnic nationalism of Adolf Hitler.
At midnight on Friday, the Senate voted to advance its version of Trump’s budget bill. Along with extending tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations, the new measure would add $4.2 trillion to the national debt while reducing funding for Medicaid. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that this will result in 11.8 million Americans becoming uninsured.
In addition to the current annual budget of $3.4 billion, the measure also provides an additional $45 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain migrants. This would provide ICE with more funding for detention than the entire U.S. Bureau of Prisons receives in total.
The Department of Homeland Security posted an image on social media shortly after the budget was advanced, featuring four alligators wearing ICE hats.
It’s an apparent reference to the construction of a migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, with the comment: “Coming soon!”
They have nicknamed it “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Postscript:
David Lane was incarcerated for most of his adult life. He died in prison on May 28, 2007, at the age of 68.
Thirty-five years after it was written, the "Fourteen Words" continues to serve as a rallying cry for white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations.
Resources:
Terrorist, ’14 Words’ Author, Dies in Prison ~ Southern Poverty Law Center
Murder of Colorado Radio Man Alan Berg Still Resonates 30 Years Later ~ Colorado Public Radio, 2014
Senate Republicans Advance Trump’s Tax and Spending Cuts Bill After Dramatic Late-Night Vote ~ Associated Press
Wyden Statement on New CBO Numbers Showing More than $930 Billion in Medicaid Cuts in New Senate Draft ~ US Senate Committee on Finance
Trump Keeps Using This Dehumanizing Immigrant Trope, And It's Empowering Others To Use It Too ~ Huffington Post
Just How Similar Is Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler? ~ Newsweek
Who Created the Immigration Crisis? ~ Perspectives
They Are Human Beings… ~ Perspectives
This train is never late. Thanks for shining a light, Brad.